FCNA favorites will face adversity in Indianapolis on Saturday

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway gave the Ferrari Challenge North America drivers all they could handle on Saturday and expects to do the same on Sunday. The championship contenders were not spared trouble while others enjoyed the clean air en route to victory. Watch the race highlights below:

While Saturday brought a thrilling start to the series’ final event of the year in the United States, Ferrari Challenge North America is also eagerly awaiting Sunday, when the 488 Challenge Evo will race for the final time on U.S. soil.

Pirelli Cup
Trofeo Pirelli was probably the quietest race of the day with Matias Perez Companc (Ferrari of Central Florida) taking the win. It was no easy feat as Dylan Medler (The Collection), who is second in the title race, ran close together throughout the race in search of valuable points. Medler finished second by 0.581 seconds, with David Musial Jr. (Ferrari of Lake Forest) third, earning his first podium in three races.

Senior David Musial (Ferrari of Lake Forest) had similar success Saturday, winning Race 1 in the Trofeo Pirelli Am. He cruised to victory over second-place Ofir Levy (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) and third-place Sureel Choksi (Ferrari of Denver).

Meanwhile, the Trofeo Pirelli Am title will be reshuffled after Race 1, as championship leaders Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) and Tony Davis (Continental AutoSports) both endured difficult races. The pair started side by side and were part of a chaotic first lap. Cook – who had a 21-point lead over Davis heading into Indianapolis – was running sixth before his Ferrari landed on the grass at the halfway point. Davis, meanwhile, was running second but suffered damage that pushed him down the line-up, limping home in fourth.

Coppa Shell
While Rey Acosta (The Collection) led from flag to flag to take his first Coppa Shell victory of the year, all eyes were on Eric Marston (Ferrari of Westlake) who pitted in the opening five minutes with a failure. Marston – who leads the Coppa Shell championship – returned to finish in the top ten, but Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) moved up from fifth to second to gain the advantage over Marston in the championship.

Then came the battle for the podium between Chuck Whittal (Ferrari of Central Florida), fourth in points, and Robert McWilliams (Ferrari of Washington), third in points. Halfway through the race, McWilliams closed in on Whittal and forced him into a spin to gain position and take third.

In the Coppa Shell Am, Roy Carroll (Foreign Cars Italia) sought redemption after starting first and leading the race before a Coppa Shell car knocked him off the lead after half-distance. Carroll was fortunate to only drop to third behind Gabe Hrib (Ferrari of Atlanta) and points leader Roger Monteforte (Ferrari of Central New Jersey). Within minutes, Carroll had stormed past the pair to take his rightful place at the top of the leaderboard, his second win of the season. Hrib and Monteforte completed the podium.

488 Evo Challenge
Massimo Perrina (Seattle Ferrari) is one win and one day closer to officially becoming the 488 Challenge Evo Trofeo Pirelli champion. Perrina took the top spot for the eighth time in 2024 on Saturday, finishing nearly 20 seconds clear from the pole position, just as he has in every race this year. Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) and Logan Broughton (Lake Forest Ferrari) had to battle it out for second and third, and they did. While Broughton had the advantage, McCarthy passed him on the final lap to take second.

In the Coppa Shell class, there was last-minute drama for the top three as Gregory Hopkins (Foreign Cars Italia) finally took the win. Although he had built up a significant lead, that advantage was no longer visible at the white flag as a problem left him finishing just tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field.

Second place went to Matthew Dalton (Ferrari of Long Island), who battled to keep up with championship rival Gerdas Venslovas (Continental AutoSports) throughout the race, finishing with a lead of less than 0.02 seconds over Venslovas in third. The title will be down to these two drivers on Sunday, as Dalton entered Indianapolis with a lead of just six points over Venslovas.

Sunday schedule
The final day of Ferrari Challenge racing in North America will take place on Sunday, starting with the Coppa Shell at 1:30 p.m. ET. The Trofeo Pirelli will take place at 2:20 p.m., with champions crowned in the 488 Challenge Evo classes following the race at 3:10 p.m.

All Ferrari Challenge races will be broadcast live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and on FerrariRaces.com.